C5 · Accountable downtime
Draft criterion, version 0.1. No provider result is implied by this page.
Definition
A service passes C5 when material downtime leaves an auditable record: timely status, bounded impact, a substantive explanation, corrective action, and the contractual remedy promised to affected customers. Perfect uptime is not the test; accountable failure is.
How to verify
Compare the status timeline, customer-observed impact, incident report, contractual SLA, claim process, compensation, and evidence of corrective work. Record what is public, what is available only to affected customers, and what remains unknown.
Worked example
An incident with a timely status page but no scope, root cause, remediation, or claim path is only partially accountable. A detailed report without a usable remedy may also be partial; transparency and contractual accountability are separate fields before they are combined.
Boundaries and objections
- C5 does not reward long reports for minor incidents or demand disclosure that creates a new security risk.
- Customer error and shared-responsibility failures remain in scope when the provider’s controls or communication materially shaped the outcome.
- SLA credits are evidence of remedy, not proof that the business loss was made whole.